None.
This invention relates to an identification structure and use of a portable detachably mountable identification and information compartment and tag which may be placed on an adult, child, or pet with special needs or on or in a bookbag, purse, or pocket and stored in a common area when the adult, child or pet is inside its home.
Eller in U.S. Pat. No. 4,984,683, issued Jan. 15, 1991 disclosed a related decorative piece of personal jewelry, such as, a locket worn on a chain around the neck of the user or a bracelet worn on the wrist of the user. A compartment within the piece of jewelry contains an attached identification and medical history of the wearer. The attached document is constructed of a waterproof paper or the like and when the paper extends beyond the edge of the jewelry, the medical history and identification of the wearer is revealed. The document is fan folded within the compartment and concealed from an observer of the jewelry when the jewelry is worn. A symbol recognizable by medical trained personnel is positioned in a prominent location on the outer surface of the jewelry.
Examples of such related devices are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,377,047 to Adams issued on Mar. 22, 1983; U.S. Pat. No. 5,312,136 to Capozzola issued on May 17, 1994, U.S. Pat. No. 5,343,608 to MacDonald issued on Sep. 6, 1994; U.S. Pat. No. 4,897,947 to Kass-Pious issued on Feb. 6, 1990; and, U.S. Pat. No. 5,052,081 to Fuhrer issued on Oct. 1, 1991.
Related designs are a patent for the ornamental design for a magnetic key case in U.S. Design Pat. No. D 401,054 issued on Nov. 1, 1998 and a patent for the ornamental design for emergency microfilmed medical and identification records.
Identification tags of various designs and configurations are commonly used to identify children and adults with medical problems such as allergies, diabetes, etc.
Environmental and safety considerations have limited what identification tags are acceptable under human engineering considerations.
The attachment of identification tags around the neck or extremity such as a wrist or ankle has been most prominent. However, the attachment is usually by means of a chain in contact with the skin. The chain and tag must be manufactured of a material that will not corrode. The usual material chosen is silver or gold making this method of identification expensive.
Further, the wearing of chains around the neck, wrist or ankle introduce a safety hazard to the user. The chain can become entangled in clothing and machinery and is a shock hazard in this age of the proliferation of electronic devices. In addition, the chain tag is visible to others and subjects the user to the subtleties of overt subliminal discrimination against persons with a xe2x80x9cmedical conditionxe2x80x9d such as AIDS. Finally, the user may forget to put on a chain type ID.
Some approaches have utilized microdots attached to the dental surface of the user. A special reader not readily available in the field is required to make use of this arrangement.
Some approaches to solve the problems have been to attach identification tags to articles of clothing. One such approach utilizes a strong fiber paper with a hole through which a shoelace is threaded to attach the paper to the outside of a shoe.
This solves the problem of safety but does not solve the problem of protecting the tag from the wear and tear of the elements and destruction by contamination.
A solution to this problem was described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,858,957 and 4,863,195. Each solution required the placement of a notational strip within the shoe and covering the notational strip with a separate clear sheet. After placement of the notational strip within the shoe, the user found difficulty in aligning the clear strip over the notational strip and applying the clear sheet without wrinkles within the confines of the shoe.
This solves only one aspect of the problem of placement of the identification and information carrier on the body of the person and attachment of the carrier to the body. However, there has remained to this day the problem of how to make the carrier repetitively detachable from the bearer or wearer and storably mountable at a site within the home so that a child of school age can readily and routinely re-attach the carrier on a daily basis.
Another aspect and problem is how to easily make this information available for updating on a daily basis and to make it readily available for mounting either on the child such as on a chain around the child""s neck or on some object the child carries daily such as a bookbag. In the case of an infant, the carrier could be mountable on a diaper bag, for example.
Thus, there has long been a need for an arrangement to identify a person and specify any particular medical needs peculiar to that person on an, ongoing or daily basis as in a log form.
It is desired that the identification tag be attachable to an accessible part of the person such as clothing in addition to around the neck or extremity of the person.
Further, it is desired that the identification tag have a means for displaying a photograph of the person that is protected from wear and soiling.
It is further desired that the identification tag not publicly display confidential information as to the medical condition of the user.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an Improved combination of an identification tag and information or data carrier attachable to the person to identify the person along with a provision for notation of any medical needs of the person on both sheets of paper and optionally on a recordable CD or computer diskette which may be inserted into and magnetically shielded by the pocket of the carrier.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an improved identification tag and data carrier, which has a compartment protected from magnetic fields.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an improved identification tag which is public, worn in public view yet provides a capability available to communicate vital medical information via computer diskette or CD should the user be unconscious.
It is yet still another object of the present invention to provide an improved identification tag and data carrier with information stored on either a magnetic or CD medium which when inserted into a computer automatically sends an email message to a specified email address, retrieves the identification code of the computer into which it is inserted and transmits that code along with the prescribed email message.
The above and other objects of the present invention are achieved, according to a preferred embodiment thereof by providing an identification tag and a carrier with a surface which will accept written or typewritten notation and, a carrier with a magnetic shielding capacity to protect a computer diskette with a repetitively usable adhesive surface for attaching to a paper sheet on multiple occasions.
In the preferred embodiment, the surface of the pouch used to house the diskette is coated with a specially adapted adhesive to be adhesively removable from any side of the paper in the carrier in the same manner as the glue used for stacked sheets of Post It(trademark) notes.
With the diskette or CD containing vital yet confidential medical and other types of information, the user""s privacy is protected from inadvertent exposure to the public.
Further, the magnetically shielded pouch for the diskette in the carrier protects data stored on the diskette from being damaged due to the use of a magnet to mount the carrier on a steel refrigerator door or similar surface in a convenient and common kitchen area of a home.